Black History Month
Navigating the uncertain future of DEI in the legal field
25 February 2025 - Isabelle Tattevin
On February 11th, Google announced the removal of Black History Month from Google Calendars in the month following Donald Trump’s election. Just a week earlier, the company declared the end of its minority recruitment goals—initiated nearly a decade ago—citing recent legal developments. This is but one example of the many U.S. companies renouncing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the weeks following the election. While Donald Trump has long been a vocal critic of DEI policies, his latest executive orders suggest his second term could translate rhetoric into potentially irreversible, legislative changes. On January 21st 2025, the U.S. President issued Executive Order ‘Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity’ invoking the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Pursuant to Section 4 of this Order, the Attorney General will soon submit a 'strategic enforcement plan' identifying the private companies and organizations that the administration could target. These include publicly traded corporations, large nonprofits, major foundations, and professional associations such as the American Bar Association. While this decision will likely undergo significant judicial review by federal courts, these Orders seem to be wildly popular among his supporters.
Prior to Trump's election, civil lawsuits filed by the American Alliance for Equal Rights against global law firms, including Winston & Strawn and Morrison Foerster in 2023, had already led their diversity fellowship programs to undergo changes. While these law firms were, and remain committed to diversity in the legal field, programs specifically targeting certain ethnicities or races could be said to violate the Civil Rights Act pursuant to the Supreme Court decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023) which considered race-conscious policies as violations of said act. The conservative majority held that using race as a factor in university admissions amounted to unconstitutional discrimination, effectively dismantling decades of precedent that permitted affirmative action as a way to address the lasting impact of historical racial exclusion. While the ruling was originally intended for universities, it is increasingly cited by companies to justify changes in their policies.
BLACK REPRESENTATION IN U.S. AND UK LAW FIRMS ?
The majority of global law firms—including those with French offices—have gradually adopted a variety of DEI initiatives, programs, and policies aimed at promoting diversity within a profession that continues to grapple with persistent challenges in this area. Data suggests that, overall, diversity in the legal field is increasing. These studies, however, gather little data on black and African-American lawyers specifically. The 2024 report published by the National Association for Law Placement, Inc. (NALP), collecting data from over 800 law firm offices across the U.S., found that Black and African American attorneys accounted for just 2.61% of all partners. According to NALP’s 2023 diversity report, 50.99% of the 812 offices included in the study had no Black partners. In the United Kingdom, the well-known 1% Study found only 90 partners who identified as black within the 13,403 partners across U.K. law firms included in the study.
Black representation in French offices?
Estimating the state of diversity in French law firms or in the French offices of international law firms is extremely challenging as the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) prohibits gathering information on individuals’ racial or ethnic backgrounds. According to Mathilde Cohen's 2018 study 'Judicial Diversity in France: The ‘Unspoken and the Unspeakable', the percentage of black partners is likely to be shockingly low. A former French chief prosecutor interviewed stated that in his four decades of practice, he estimated having worked with fewer than 20 black magistrats (or judges). A 2018 report published by the organisation Défenseur des Droits, interviewing a total of 7,138 French legal professionals, 66% of men aged 30-49 perceived as Black or Arab reported having experienced racial discrimination.
The French approach to DEI policies - an increasingly recognized issue
Despite the CNIL prohibition on the collection of data and a general restriction on affirmative action policies, France is increasingly recognizing and supporting diversity initiatives. Pioneering and courageous international law firms such as Clifford Chance, A&O Shearman and Linklaters persevere in their mission towards racial equality in the legal field, within the existing legal constraints. French laws on these issues might complicate the creation of these programs but should not be considered to prohibit them entirely.
A&O Shearman is a global law firm deeply committed to increasing diversity within the field. Notable initiatives include its Black Student Lawyer Programme and its annual ‘Equal Opportunity Awards’, organised through the Sciences Po Law school, intended to ‘equal the playing field’ between its many applicants. Clifford Chance’s Race Equality and Celebrating Heritage (REACH) network provides scholarships and wider opportunities within continental Europe, directly geared towards people from minority backgrounds. Linklaters underscores its commitment to anti-racism through its Race Action Plan, publishing annual reports that detail specific targets, achievements, and areas for improvement.
Regardless of the widespread criticism of France’s 'colorblind' approach, it has not made these programs unworkable—nor should it be seen as an insurmountable barrier to their implementation. In fact, these initiatives are gaining traction within the French legal field and must be vigorously defended and advanced, especially in the face of the threats posed by the Trump administration.